2017-18 Toronto Raptors and General NBA Thread

[octothorp]

I'm prepared to be pissed as hell about the reffing in this series. Raptors will have next to no margin for error. Also prepared for all the Cleveland players who have been lukewarm shooting from 3 to get hot as soon as they see the Raptors.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

With the second round now set...

Raptors in 6
Sixers in 6

Rockets in 7
Warriors in 5

Raps in 6? They'd have to play absolutely lights out. You watch, I pretty much guarantee you we'll be here in a few days talking about officiating and how they still could have/should have taken care of business and played better.

Truth is, odds are heavily stacked against them. Lebron is going through.

[Trojan97]

Raps are gonna whoop up on Cleveland this year. Good luck to Lebron trying to play 44-48 minutes everynight at the rate the Raps second unit plays at with FVV in the lineup. No breaks coming for him and they have no one else. Raps in 5/6.

[Beninho]

Lebron is in the raptors head, they bow down and let him get everything he wants. Raptors will have to shut down the rest of the cavs and that’s how they will win. Not convinced at all that they will be able to do it, would love to be surprised.

[Beninho]

Originally Posted by Trojan97

Raps are gonna whoop up on Cleveland this year. Good luck to Lebron trying to play 44-48 minutes everynight at the rate the Raps second unit plays at with FVV in the lineup. No breaks coming for him and they have no one else. Raps in 5/6.

I wouldn’t be so confident, lebron is the freak of all freaks and he will probably play those minutes and average 35 10 and 10. I’ve seen him do this for 14 years now, the Cavs are going to be extremely difficult to beat. Any team lebron is on is hard to beat, regardless of whose on his team

[Mr.Coffee]

Lebron may be good, but how stupid does his beard look?

[corporatejay]

LeBron has to be in the conversation along with Jordan now. He’s an absolute animal and he’s been doing it for 15 years

[Machiavelli]

I was kind of hoping the Pacers would win....keeps the prices down a little. Lebron is a huge draw

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

LeBron has to be in the conversation along with Jordan now. He’s an absolute animal and he’s been doing it for 15 years

Never. Jordan is undefeated in NBA Finals and didn’t have to collect a team of his all star friends and rivals to accomplish that. LeBron is the second best player to ever live, but he’s not in Jordan’s realm of lore. Jordan has 6 Finals MVPs. LeBron needs to win this year with mediocre team around him if he ever wants to be in the same league as Jordan.

[Samonadreau]

This is the year to get to the finals - may as well get Lebron out of the way now. Raptors don't have to completely shut Lebron down just limit the damage and let the bench go to work. Don't get frustrated and take dump fouls just trust the system and the process and exploit the holes in the Cavs lineup.

[Beninho]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

Never. Jordan is undefeated in NBA Finals and didn’t have to collect a team of his all star friends and rivals to accomplish that. LeBron is the second best player to ever live, but he’s not in Jordan’s realm of lore. Jordan has 6 Finals MVPs. LeBron needs to win this year with mediocre team around him if he ever wants to be in the same league as Jordan.

Jordan also lost in the playoffs 7 times before reaching the finals, Lebron will out due Jordan in every statistical category when its all said and done. Lebron beat the team with the best regular season record in NBA history. Lebron already has more rebounds and assists and by next year he will have more points than Jordan. He is in the same league

[Senator Clay Davis]

LeBron is worthy of being in the Jordan discussion, far more than Kobe ever was. But then you remind yourself that without his gambling suspension, Mike would have won eight rings in a row, and then the conversation pretty much ends right there.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

Never. Jordan is undefeated in NBA Finals and didn’t have to collect a team of his all star friends and rivals to accomplish that. LeBron is the second best player to ever live, but he’s not in Jordan’s realm of lore. Jordan has 6 Finals MVPs. LeBron needs to win this year with mediocre team around him if he ever wants to be in the same league as Jordan.

This is a bad argument.

It's the same people who say that Montana is better than Brady because he's undefeated in Super Bowls.

He also made less Super Bowls.

I'm not saying LeBron is better than Jordan, but it's at least a discussion. Peak Jordan > Peak LeBron but I think as far as overall careers go, it's a lot closer than people think. LeBron has been the best player in the league for longer than Jordan was.

[nik-]

LeBron also never had a Scottie Pippen. He had some good players to play with, but not a Scottie Pippen.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by nik-

LeBron also never had a Scottie Pippen. He had some good players to play with, but not a Scottie Pippen.

Dwayne Wade.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Kyrie Irving isn't so bad either.

[Samonadreau]

This is the first season since Lebron first left the Cavs that he hasn't had an all star supporting cast.

That being said he's for sure #2 behind Jordan which is a compliment.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

This is the first season since Lebron first left the Cavs that he hasn't had an all star supporting cast.

That being said he's for sure #2 behind Jordan which is a compliment.

Do you really believe the Cavs teams he won with were more "All-Star" than Jordan's bulls.

Phil Jackson is one of the best coaches (if not the best) in the history of the NBA, that's worth something in addition to Pippen.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

Never. Jordan is undefeated in NBA Finals and didn’t have to collect a team of his all star friends and rivals to accomplish that. LeBron is the second best player to ever live, but he’s not in Jordan’s realm of lore. Jordan has 6 Finals MVPs. LeBron needs to win this year with mediocre team around him if he ever wants to be in the same league as Jordan.

Lebron takes way too much #### for those finals losses, really the only one that was a "bad" loss IMO was that loss against the Mavericks. That one is a black mark on his resume.

Getting to the finals with that 06/07 Cavs roster is doing more with a bad team than Jordan ever did with his early Bulls teams before Pippen was there.

The two losses against the Spurs, and two losses against the Warriors are against two other all time great teams.

Jordan never won with a mediocre team either and Jordan also gets a pass for just leaving the league whenever things got a little tougher.

The one season he was on his leave from the Bulls after the first 3-peat that team had a .671 winning percentage without him, they only had a .695 winning percentage with him the year before.

Then after the 2nd repeat when he realized Jackson, Pippen, and Rodman were leaving he decided he was just going to retire instead of having to deal with actually trying to win on his own.

Jordan never lost in a finals because he picked his spots in different ways.

Their career regular season stats and playoff stats are eerily close at this point.

Jordan being a slightly better scorer but with Lebron having more assists, and rebounds. Both great defenders when they want to be too. FG% and 3PT % also pretty much identical.

Honestly it's a wash IMO. They are 1A & 1B.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Well we basically saw the two potential outcomes of this series summed up in one half: If the Raps are fully engaged on defense, as we saw in the first quarter, this series will be over in 5. If the Raps are lax on defense, as we saw in the second quarter, they will lose.